Uneven water standards putting some Canadians at risk more than 10 years after Walkerton: report

A patchwork system of drinking-water standards across the country has left some Canadians at risk of contracting potentially deadly diseases, according to a new report.

The report from an environmental watchdog gave decent and good grades to several provinces, including top marks to Ontario and Nova Scotia, but reserved its harshest critique for the federal government, which received a failing grade.

Vancouver-based Ecojustice says the findings in its third report on drinking-water management in Canada show safety gaps still exist more than a decade after lax water-management standards contributed to the deaths of seven people in Walkerton, Ont.

The report, titled Waterproof 3, says the federal government has done little to improve drinking water conditions, including those in First Nations communities. It also cited a reluctance to create rigorous national drinking water standards.

“The recommendations from the Walkerton Inquiry gave us a very clear framework for evaluating each jurisdiction’s efforts to provide safe drinking water,” report author Randy Christensen said in a statement.

“Those recommendations spell out exactly what it takes to properly monitor and protect drinking water, and yet some provinces and territories, as well as the federal government, still haven’t put them in place.”

Ecojustice says that government cuts, climate change and unprotected source water are the biggest emerging threats to the country’s drinking water system.

The report, which is released every five years, evaluates each province, territory and the federal government’s performance on treatment and testing requirements, drinking-water quality standards, source-water protection, and transparency and accountability.

The federal government received an ‘F’ on the report card, the only failing grade handed out.

Ontario received an ‘A’; Nova Scotia an A-; Manitoba and New Brunswick each received a B+; Newfoundland and Labrador received a B; while Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Saskatchewan each received a B-.

At the bottom of the list were British Columbia (C+), Alberta (C-), the Northwest Territories (C), the Yukon (D+) and Nunavut (D).

Alberta also received a scathing critique in the report, which said that standards for treatment and testing have “remained static” for five years.

The report expected those at the bottom of the list to improve their standing in the coming years, especially in the Northwest Territories, where an “ambitious review of its water laws” is underway.

An “ambitious water law overhaul” is also underway in B.C., the report notes, but doesn’t deal with the protection of water sources, a problem because B.C. is home to the lowest standards in the country.